Why is Radio not dead?

On the rare occasions that I drive without my iPod, I always turn on the radio expecting to hear nothing but static. Surely radio is not still around. Surely it's gone the way of ice boxes and candles. But no, for some reason that I can't understand, there are still radio programs and radio stations on the internet. Why is this?

I was driving back to work from lunch, and I started scanning the stations. These are the nuggets I found. I'll let you decide if they are nuggets of gold, or the nuggets that come out the back side of a bunny rabbit:

AM

• Annoying radio host who abuses and makes fun of guests who calls into her program
• Political radio personality selling meat
• Mexican music
• Music from the 40s
• Lots and lots of static

FM

• bad country (I know, redundant use of the word bad)
• more bad country
• commercials
• more commercials
  
• really, really, shallow music
• classical music (which is great, I'm sure, but beyond my low-brow tastes)
  

And there you have it. The entire 10 minute ride wasted. However, when I take my iPod, this is what I have at my fingertips. And remember, any of these programs I can pause, re-listen to, or fast forward.

Podcasts

• Writing Excuses - great podcasts for those of us who are in (or want to be in) the writing biz.
• The Dice Tower - You'll never find a radio program about boardgames on the radio. But you will on my iPod.
• Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me - NPR at it's finest
• Click and Clack, the Car Talk Guys - They could talk about stacking kidney stones and it would be an entertaining, engaging show.
• The McLaughlin Group - Best political show on the airwaves, bar none. Don't believe me? Watch this.
  
• This Week in Tech - Best tech show on the interwebs, bar none
• WNYC's Radio Lab - YANPRP (Yet another NPR Podcast)

There you have it. Hours of entertainment, downloaded to my iPod every week, all of it free. There are ads on a few of them, and that is fine by me.

So, if you pay for ads on the radio, that is fine. But you might want to find out who is listening to podcasts, and find a cheaper way to get your message out. Because Radio is going to die any day now.